“Azerbaijan plays a crucial role in the formation of a more solid and integrated economic and transport space between Central Asia and other regions,” President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the 8th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Central Asia in Turkmenbashi.
Speaking about new opportunities for regional cooperation, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that there is now an opportunity to make it much stronger and more concrete. According to him, this is a space where countries can jointly develop trade, transport, energy, industry, and new technologies.
The President of Uzbekistan stressed the need for further development of trade and economic cooperation, noting the importance of joint industrial and technological chains, shared digital services, and investment mechanisms.
“Now we need to determine how this will be achieved. First of all, it means creating a joint industrial and technological chain, a shared digital service, and an investment mechanism that will enable major projects to be launched more quickly,” he noted.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev also stressed the need to capitalize on the region’s common geographical advantages and proposed developing cooperation based on the principle of “six countries – one product.”
“We have already reached the point when ordinary trade with each other is not enough. We need to create a final product together. The formula ‘six countries – one product’ conveys the meaning of what we strive for,” the President of Uzbekistan underscored.
According to him, the participation of enterprises from several countries in a single production chain will allow closer links to be established among the economies of the countries in the region.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev also noted the importance of further improving the legal framework of the consultative format, stressing that the key point is not the number of documents adopted, but their practical implementation.
The President of Uzbekistan proposed holding a joint business forum of Central Asia and Azerbaijan next year.
